Conveying apparatus



(No Model.)

J. G. MARTIN. CONVEYING APPARATUS.

No. 539,526. Patented Ma 21, 1.895.

UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH C. MARTIN, OF NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 5C9,526, dated May 21,1895.

Application filed December 23, 1889. Serial No. 334,724- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH O. MARTIN,of Florence, (Northampton,) countyof Hampshire, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inConveying Apparatus, of which the following description, in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, is a specition, like letters on thedrawings representing like parts.

My invention is embodied in a conveying apparatus of the kind shown anddescribed in Letters Patent No. 399,150, granted to me March 5, 1889, towhich reference may be had, the said apparatus comprising a track ortracks along which carriers or receptacles for the material to beconveyed are propelled by a cord or belt, the'said carriers beingprovided with clutches or cord gripping devices to connect them with themoving cord.

The present invention relates mainly to the construction of theappliances at an angle in the track, such as is required for example,where the track is to deviate from itsusual or normal horizontaldirection to a substantially vertical direction. At anglesin the trackthe propelling cord passes around and is supported by pulleys and in allsimilar propelling apparatus known to me prior to this invention, it hasbeen necessary for the cord to remain on or close to the pulley whilethe carrier is passing around the pulley, such requirement necessitatingvarious expedients in the construction of the track such as for example,an axial twist in the track where it approaches and leaves the angle, ora device for unclutching and disconnecting the carrier from the cord asit approaches the angle, and again connecting it with the cord after ithas passed around the angle by its momentum. Such expedients arerendered unnecessary by the present invention which consists in aconstruction and arrangement of the track, carrier, cord, and pulleysuch that the carrier may pass around the pulley between it and thecord, the said carrier and track itself forming a support for the cordduring the passage of the carrier around the pulley, taking the cord offfrom the pulley as the carrier approaches the same and leaving it on thepulley again as the carrier leaves the same after it has passed theangle in the track. This is accomplished .in accordance with the presentinvention by providing at the angles guides curvedaround the pulleys andpreferably substantially concentric thereto, although not necessarilyso, said guides eugaging the carrier so as to afford a resistance to thetension of the propelling cord and being at such distance from theperiphery of the pulley as to permit the carrier to pass around thepulley between it and the cord which is connected with the carrier atthe opposite side or face thereof, to that which is presented to thepulley.

For convenience of description the face of the receptacle or carrierwhich is adjacent to the propelling cord and supports the clutch bywhich the cord is gripped will be called the bottom of the carrier orbox, for although in the operation of the apparatus the box may be inany position, the position with the said bottom horizontal andunderneath is the most common and may be regarded as the normal positionof the box.

Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a conveying apparatusembodying this invention; Fig. 2, a sectional view thereof on line a: w,Fig.1; and Fig. 3, a side elevation, on a smaller scale, ofaconsiderable length of the track, including its terminus. The tracks a,b, propelling cord 0, and carriers or boxes d provided with clutches eto engage said cord, are shown as of substantially the same constructionas represented in Patent No. 399,150, before referred-to, 'although thepresent invention is not limited to the specific construction shownofthe box, clutch, and track, but maybe employed with correspondingdevices differing in specific construction from those represented.

The propelling cord 0 normally runs below the level of the track asshown in Fig. 3, and the track is for the most part substantiallyhorizontal, the body of the carrier or box being mainly above it asshown, and the clutch 6 projects downward from the bottom of the box togrip the cord.

The present invention relates to the appliances employed where it isnecessary to change the direction of the track from the normal directionrepresented at the left hand of Fig. 1, in a vertical plane as forexample where the carriers are to be conveyed from a lower to a higherlevel as from one story to another in a building.

At all points where the direction of the track is to be changed thepropelling cord 0 is carried around guide pulleysfand in conveyingapparatus of this kind prior to this invention the appliances at suchangle or change of direction in the track have generally been such as toenable the carrier to pass around the pulley without disengaging thecord from the pulley, being so constructed that the clutch that engagesthe cord itself comes next to the peripheryof the pulley in passingaround the same, or is wholly disenengaged from the cord before reachingthe pulley and is again engaged therewith after passing the pulley,being carried around the pulley by the momentumacquired before beingdisengaged from the cord.

In many cases especially where the track changes from a horizontal to avertical direction as shown in Fig. 1, a complicated construction isrequired in order to bring the clutch, which naturally approaches thepulley on the opposite side of the box from the pulley, into suchposition that said clutch itself can pass around in contact with or nextto the pulley, and it is the object of the present invention to avoidsuch complicated construction, which is accomplished as follows:

The tracks a, b, have guide portions a 19 which engage portions of thecarrier, shown in this instance as lateral flanges d on the upper sideand thus act to resist any tension or pull of the cord toward the bottomof the box which would otherwise lift the box off from the portion ofthe track uponwhich it naturally rests by gravity. At angles, the track,including said portions a 11 is curved substantially concentric with thecord supporting pulleys fand is at such distance from said pulleys as tosupport the carrier or box 61 against the tension of the cord 0 at asufficient distance from the axis of the pulley to permit the box orcarrier to pass around the pulley as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The cord 0 isan endlesscord passing around a terminal pulley g at theend of the track, see Fig. 3, which terminal pulley is provided with anyusual take up devices to maintain the proper tension of the cord andtake up any slack thereof, and also yield in case the cord is taken upat an intermediate point in its length.

The passage of a box around a pulley as shown in Fig.1 takes up acertain portion of the cord, that is, it requires a greater length ofcord to pass around the box, as shown than it would to pass directlyaround the pulley, and such additional length of cord at the pulley isprovided for by the yielding of the take up device at the end of theline.

By having the guides b that support the box against the tension of thecord curved as shown, concentrically with the pulley, the said guidesand the box itself to which the cord is clutched, constitute the supportfor the cord at the angle while the box is passing around the corner,the said box lifting the cord oif from the pulley fas it approaches thecorner, and finally depositing the cord upon the pulley again as itleaves the corner, the box being all the time propelled by the cord, andalso constituting the support and guide for the cord while the latter islifted off the pulley by the passage of the box between it and thepulley.

The track is preferably depressed below its normal level as itapproaches the pulley as shown at 0. 12 Fig. 3, so that the cord whichnormally runs below the level of the track as shown in said figure,comes above the level of the track a short distance before it reachesthe pulley and as the carrier passes onto and off from such depressedportions of the track, it gradually takes up and lets out again thecord, as is required for the passage of the box around the pulley andthe subsequent replacement of the cord upon the pulley.

The hold down flanges or guides 61 that support the carrier against thetension of the cord are not necessarily a part of the main track, asherein shown, although they may be so when the track as in this case isproperly constructed to have the said guides continuous withcorresponding guiding parts of the track, which operate at points wherethere is no pressure or tension of the cord against the box to beresisted; but in tracks of other construction not having such guides orflanges in the straight portion of the track special hold down guidesfor the box, may be provided at the corners as indicated, for example,in dotted lines at Z2 Figs. 1 and 2, cooperating with correspondingportions ofthe carrier shown in dotted lines as rollers (Z suitablyconnected with the box to engage with such guides.

1 claim- In a conveying apparatus comprising a track,a carrier providedwith guide portions engaged with said track, and a propelling cordadapted to move said carrier along the said track; apulley normallysupporting the propelling cord at an angle or point where the directionof the track is changed, and a portion of the track substantiallyconcentric with the periphery ofsaid pulley, the guide portions of thetrack and carrier being arranged with relation to said pulley so thatthe body of the carrier in passing around the pulley is between thepulley and the propelling cord and itself supports and guides thepropelling cord during said passage around the periphery of the pulley,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH C. MARTIN. \Vitnesses:

J 0s. P. LIVERMORE, M. E. HILL.

